I used to work for Amazon, and used to interview a lot while I was there. The answer is: it varies, but generally no. There are some roles where you're going t

I used to work for Amazon, and used to interview a lot while I was there. The answer is: it varies, but generally no. There are some roles where you're going to be spinning mad data structures & algorithms day in and day out... but for the most part you write code that isn't overly dissimilar from what's written everywhere else. This is my own observation and hypothesis: "tier 1" companies have very algorithm and data structures heavy interviews because their signal to noise ratio is horrific. Being household names, you have tons of people applying who can't even Fizzbuzz. In this environment the natural reaction is to check, first and foremost, for CS fundamentals, because you can't assume that it exists and is just rusty. I now work in startup-land, where hiring is so much easier, since people who find their way to your doorstep are overall much more qualified by default. I'll admit, when I interviewed for Amazon, I always hit with algorithms and data structures questions first, because by my own unscientific estimates, at least 50% of applicants at the phone interview stage do not even understand what a tree is, much less how they might go about crawling one or representing it in data. I'd reckon about 10-15% cannot pass Fizzbuzz.